Why pay $20,000 for a commercial link to run your television station when a $10 kitchen wok from the Warehouse is just as effective?
This is exactly how North Otago’s(New Zealand) newest television station 45 South is transmitting its signal from its studio to the top of Cape Wanbrow, in a bid to keep costs down.
Ken Jones designed the wok transmitter in his spare time last year when he wanted to provide wireless broadband to his Ardgowan home. Along with friend Murray Bobbette they worked out mathematical equations to prove the curved metal face of a wok would have the same effect as a small satellite dish.
When the television station 45 South (UHF channel 41) started up in September last year, Mr Jones thought the same technique could be applied. So he substituted a $10 Chinese cooking pan for a $20,000 satellite dish on behalf of his New Zealand television station.
“The $20,000 for a commercial link was just money we didn’t have, so we bought several woks from The Warehouse instead which was convenient and cheap,” he said.
Mr Jones said one pan was providing Oamaru with the signal at present and there was no need to provide another pan for some time.I am reminded of the times when Doordarshan first launched in our area more than 24 years ago and how a little aluminium cloth hanger sometimes worked better than the original antenna.
Source: nzherald
You May Also Be Interested In...
- Do you email or e-mail?
- European version of Windows 7 not to include Internet Explorer
- Most common problems with printers and how to solve them.
- Firefox 3.5 to arrive on June 30
- Microsoft to discontinue Encarta
- All Mobiles should have anti-theft software
- McAfee Research names .hk as most dangerous country domain
- A few killer keyboard shortcuts for Excel
Subscribe Now
If you enjoyed this post, you will definitely enjoy our others. Subscribe to the feed to get future posts delivered right to your mailbox or feedreader.
Powered by Thesis
An amazing WordPress Theme, nothing beats the versatility and SEO friendliness of the Thesis framework.
From beginners, to the most advanced WordPress developers, Thesis makes it easy for anyone to customize it.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I like this post. Nice idea !!
How are you doing ?
Hi Ravi, Thanks. I am fine.